It's Been A Long Time Coming
by the1stanomaly
Summary: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Rated M to be safe.
1. Est Tempus

**My OC is mine and mine alone. I am not affiliated with RWBY in any way, shape, or form. All rights go to Monty Oum of Rooster Teeth.**

 **xXxX**

" _Genesis_. _Exodus_. _Leviticus_. _Numbers~_."

In the middle of a wide and infested forest, a young human male is seen dilly dallying in the midst of all that is going on with a small smile on his face. A calm, carefree, and free spirited nature that is big enough to ignore everything that might be happening around you is not the time nor place to have, especially in a forest like this.

He is a Caucasian young boy with spiky silver hair with a tiny hint of black on the front. He wears a black hoodie that covers white bandages that cross in an 'X' over his chest, black jeans, black high tops with white laces, and a gold scarf that matches his eyes. On his waist, there is a trumpet that is silver in color that is held in place with white cloths. On the other side is a broad sword, the same color and holster.

" _Deuteronomy_. _Joshua_. _Judges_. _Ruth~_."

Right now he is singing Oum knows what, completely oblivious to a large shadow that is approaching behind him, the faint rustling of leaves and the rushing winds in the air that signals something terrible is about to happen. A large size of a Nevermore is stalking our friendly, but dumb friend here that holds hope to snag him up for a quick, easy, and tasty meal. The beast quickly goes on the attack and sends a volley of feathers that are sharp as knives to maybe pin or get him from behind. They got closer to the ground, inches away before they strike. The monster flies down to inspect if he is dead so he can hurry up and eat him, but ultimately meets its end when a blade of magnificent silver cuts a deep gash in the huge neck of the flying anomaly and is sent in the unforgiving ground, dying quickly. A shadow on the back of the dead Nevermore yanked out their lustrous blade which drew a geyser of black smoke, surrounding their environment for a quick moment before it subsided. The smoke revealed the boy from before, who now held a blank, completely ominous look that was the polar opposite from the him from before. He hopped off the corpse which was beginning to evaporate.

' _The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue_.'

The boy stopped momentarily in his thoughts before turning his head quickly in a random direction. His left hand rose and aimed at the trees blocking the inside of the extra forest when they began to part, each tree behind the next one following the same notion. He lowered his hand to his side and smiles a little when witnessing a multitude of Beowulfs and Ursa in the parted trees' wake.

All seemed to noticed their shelter gone in a blink of an eye and turned their attention to what could've made it so. Their answer was right in front of them: a waving boy with a smile plastered on his face, with a sword in the other hand. They grew enraged, now knowing that this human was the one responsible. They also thought that the human was mocking them as well, further justifying their next actions.

The majority of them, the Beowulf species, ran in a quick speed with their claws at the ready. The boy spun his sword in his hand to grip it backwards before complying with their wish. The two parties were about to meet when the boy hopped above them swiftly, disappearing for the time being. The Grimm stopped and began to scan around for their snack when something stabbed in the ground from behind the pack, cracking the ground and forced them to begin tumbling down on the ground from the big impact between the two forces. The boy unhooked his sword from the ground and threw it in a boomerang fashion and successfully dismembered their heads in a beautiful sequence, catching his sword when it came back around. They were quickly replaced with their team who rushed him in an all-out force, but were quickly dealt with when the boy slashed the air in a cross gesture that glowed gold for a second that rammed through the horde. The area was immediately covered in the same black smoke, blinding the Grimm momentarily. The rest were put down before they could even think from a huge wave of pure white fire that effectively blew away the smoke all the while.

' _And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, or in your case, abominations of His creation._ '

He caught a breather before resuming his onslaught on the next species of Grimm. The Ursa didn't allow him to rest and began to cautiously stalk him, putting a quick pace in their step every once in awhile. The boy rotated his whole body around and strangely seemed calm in his predicament. Normally, the average huntsman would be sweating a little right now, but he seems perfectly capable of handling these heathens with no sweat. Minutes passed and everything stopped all around them. The leaves could be heard dropping to the ground and time seemed to have slowed down.

The young boy was quick on the draw and promptly stabbed his sword in the ground, the crack emitting a bright light from the inner parts of the planet and blinding the Grimm once again. A sudden earthquake surprised each and every one of the Grimm and all lost their balance and fell through the trenches that were now in full effect in his plan. One by one, the horde of Ursa was quickly decreasing in numbers but only a few were left. The few who were left tried escaping the splitting of the ground and were successful, well for the most part. One unfortunate bear stepped in a weak spot in the ground and it caved in, bringing them down in the deep darkness of the core of the planet.

The boy, seeing the coast is clear, dropped from the air and crouched to prevent the momentum from hurting him. He hums to himself before walking away but a faint whimper caught his ear as he made haste to where it came from. He sees a Ursa all by its lonesome, on the ground near a tree in pain, perhaps from the ground breaking apart and it tried to get away fast but ended up hurting itself instead.

He took pity on the creature before he decided to not fight it but tried the good ol' intimidation method he learned from his peers back at home. He lowered his head to bring energy up through his inner body and slowly raised his head. The Grimm shook in fear at what it just witnessed. Behind the boy's frame grew a pair of wings in astral projection with lightning appearing out of nowhere, brightening the wings in a spine-chilling manner. It dragged its half body away in a desperate attempt to get away from the indifferent human that took away everything from it. No human is this intimidating and it frightens it if there is more than the likes of him.

The boy sighed and for the last time walked away to resume his trek through the forest before a mop of blonde hair appeared in his peripheral vision. He turned his head to see a middle-aged woman that has very light-blonde hair tied back in a bun with a curl hanging down the right side of her face. Her eyes are bright green and she wears thin ovular glasses. She has dangling teal earrings that match the hanging pendant on her collar. She wears a white long-sleeved, pleated top that has a wide keyhole neckline and gauntlet cuffs that flare in pleats at the wrist. Her lower body is covered by a black high-waisted pencil skirt with bronze buttons and black-brown stockings. She wears black boots with bronze heels, and a cape that is purple inside and black on the outside. The cut of the cape is stylized to end in flames and arrows, with a row of diamond-shaped bronze beads on the back.

The woman held a stern look on her face which he returned with a bright smile and a energetic wave of his hand. Her lips twitched upwards for a split second before her seriousness returned as she approached him with a unwavering walk.

"Good evening, young man. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. I have a request from Professor Ozpin to come get you. He wishes to speak with you for a moment." She proclaimed with authority.

He smiled wider which creeped out the blonde woman to no end, "I would like to meet this Professor Ozpin. Was he the one who watched me fighting these Grimm here?"

Her face took a shocked turn at his amazing observation. Did he detect the cameras around here or does he have some kind of out of this world intuition at being watched? Either way, he still is something if he is that prepared.

"Why yes...yes he is. Come now. We should be going." She commanded walking away, still shaking off the astonishment.

He appeared quickly on her right side, making her jump slightly in her pace but quickly recovered. She glanced at him, still having that wide smile on his face as he began singing,

" _Samuel_. _Kings_. _Chronicles_ ~. _Ezra_. _Nehemiah_. _Esther_. _Job~_."

' _What in Oum's name is he talking about? Ezra? Job? This boy is out of his mind…_ '

After an awkward several minutes and non-stop singing, they finally arrived at their destination.

"... _Jude_. _And_ _Revelation~_. Oh, is this the place? Ok, let us go inside!" The boy ran to the door and opened it before stopping as he almost bumped into a man in green holding a plate of doughnuts and a mug.

They both locked eyes for what seemed like forever until the boy grew his now normal wide smile and rose his hand in greeting, "Hiya sir! How are you?"

The older man smiled in amusement at this boy's attitude before he offered his greeting, "Hello young man. I am doing well this evening. Come and have a seat over here." He pointed to a metal table with a single light hanging over their heads. He rushed to his seat eagerly in order to talk with this guy, who approached the table and set down the plate of doughnuts.

' _Wonder what he wants to talk about. Is this about the fight in the forest? If it is, I'll happily oblige! This guy is Professor Ozpin: the most grandest man to ever walk the face of this planet. He seems trustworthy enough. I can feel it in his...uh...aura_!' He ponders before he took a few doughnuts from the plate and wolfed them down.

"So! Where did you learn to do this?" The now identified Ozpin directed his attention to the small tablet on the table, showing his skills with the sword.

"Oh that's easy! I'm self taught! Never lost pace with my training at all! It's required of me to not slack off and fool around. It's a sin to be lazy." He finished with a serious look, surprising Glynda. In their few minutes together, never once has this boy changed facial expressions ever. It's kind of wrong to see this expression on him.

"Mhm, I see. And who requires this of you, Mr…"

"Oh, I am terribly sorry. I'm Caelum, Prof. Ozpin! I am currently scouting Vale for any loose Grimm that may very well disobey their orders to stay put in the forests away from the humans in the city! And who requires this of me? My Father!" Caelum says joyfully, not noticing the slip of the tongue there.

Ozpin raises an eyebrow at that last part, ' _The Humans? It sounds like he categorizes himself differently...Is he not human? **Hmm**_ …'

"So you know of me. And your father requires this, yes?" Ozpin says slowly.

"Yep!"

"Caelum, what are you?" He says. He can't sneak in a hint in his words at all as Caelum is not making this easy for him. He is just so free spirited.

" **Huh**? I am an angel of the Lord." Caelum reveals, not missing a beat.

The looks on Ozpin and Glynda's faces were so lost at this 'Lord' character and the term 'angel' were foreign as well. The blonde teacher was the first to speak up, "Lord? As in a leader, a commander?"

"In a sense, yes. But not just any leader...our saviour! He has finally taken action upon this world when he sent me, His messenger! You have no _idea_ how big of an honor this is for me. And I can't fail Him no matter what, because we all love every creation in the universe and we wish to see them through the end! That's why I am here on His behalf. Protecting this world from evil is a must and nothing will stand in my way!" Caelum finished, talking pretty fast, reminding them of a certain reaper they talked to almost an hour ago.

"Caelum. Would you mind telling me what an 'angel' and this 'Lord' character is?" Ozpin asked of the boy.

Caelum smiled and nodded in affirmation, "Yes! Angels are created, non-human spirit beings. They cannot die. God created angels for the purpose of serving and carrying out His will. And The Lord is a head of the Holy Trinity of Heaven. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Lord, or the Holy Spirit, acts as a ghost who establishes God's presence within an area, washing the living in His Holy glow and entering their bodies to give a message through said person and through tongue interpretation. He works wonders doing this and the lives that are saved is just too many to count, it's a miracle!"

Ozpin was fascinated by this tale. Angels are these ethereal beings that cannot die and does this God's work by saving people's lives? He'll have to look into this more from this young man who claims to be an angel of the same description, but for now…

"Is there proof to you being one of these angels that you speak of?"

A nod he received before he witnessed something that he'll never forget in his lifetime. Two pairs of wings appeared behind the boy through astral projection with thunder and lightning outside which shook the building massively on its foundation. The walls caved in and blasted open to reveal the outside and lightning almost striked where Ozpin was sitting, but he sidestepped from his spot where there was now a burnt crater on the concrete floor of the building. All subsided when Caelum withdrew his wings and saw the astounded expressions on both the professor's faces.

"Is that enough proof for you?" He asked curiously, ready to prove more of his power.

"N-No! That won't be necessary, Mr. Caelum. That is good enough." Said a frightened Glynda.

Ozpin was still standing there in his spot in the corner, too shaken up to move. How marvelous! Such strength and what good amount of it too! What kind of world does Mr. Caelum live in? He regained his posture and cleared his throat before offering his deal, "N-Now the reason I called you here is this: would you take the opportunity to come and attend Beacon with the rest of my students? It would be most beneficial and you would make lots of friends along the way. And we'll also help you achieve your goal in your mission in protecting this world. That is what my school has dedicated it's time to for a very long time. What do you say, Mr. Caelum?"

As if Caelum's smile couldn't grow any wider, he shook hands with Ozpin, "Yes sir! I would like to join this Beacon and study alongside these young people!"

Glynda then thought at the mention of "these young people", ' _If angels cannot die, then how old…_?' She then asked, "If you don't mind my asking, how old are you, Mr. Caelum?"

The angel looked to her with his blank expression, "3,225 years old."

Her mouth was shot open in total awestruck at the large number and Ozpin stifled a laugh at her expression. Surely she must've known due to him being immortal...just like...

No. Don't dwell on that right now. Right now, he has a new student to look forward to other than Ruby Rose attending this year at his school.

It would be most interesting.


	2. Noli Timere

"Woah! So this is the Beacon Academy? It's huge!"

Yes, Caelum has finally arrived at Beacon Academy. Vale's number one school for huntsman-in-training for all who aspire to uphold the peace this world has been experiencing for quite awhile now. The front gates are swarmed with students who are wasting no time at all to get started with their new lives. Back on the crafty airship (as Caelum refers to it), he heard non-stop conversations about the school, the classes, the teachers, and surprisingly making new friends. Perhaps in a world that is on the edge with fighting monstrous creations such as Grimm, friendship is still a goal which is perfectly fine with the angel. Caelum smiled at the memory of the students, but was suddenly jolted from his mind when an explosion occurred from the far off distance in front of him. He didn't have to look at them to see them both arguing, but it became one-sided when a girl in white started shouting at the little girl in red with a cloak about something that is related to this 'dust' he's heard a lot about. He got closer to the two and tried to make sense of their argument,

"Ugh, you complete dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?" The taller girl with white clothing reprimanded the girl opposite to her.

"Well, I-I..." The second girl stutters.

That's when Caelum decided the red girl needed some assistance, "Hey now! What's the matter, you two?"

The first girl looked to the voice that interrupted her scolding and huffed while answering, "This _child_ fell on my cart of luggage, knocking them all over, and covered me in black soot from head to toe! And I was in the middle of asking her why a kid such as herself is doing here at a school to fight monsters. Doesn't she look a little too puerile to be wandering around here like it's nobody's business?"

The red-cloaked girl, finally fed up, shot back, "Hey, I said I was sorry, princess!"

A new voice entered the conversation, "It's heiress, actually." The two girls and Caelum look over to the side as another girl, this time dressed in all black and a big bow on her head, approaches them with a bottle in hand, "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

The girl in white, now identified as Weiss, smiled smugly, "Finally! Some recognition!"

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners."

"Oh yeah! I remember them now! The Schnee Family. Too big for their britches, always quick to judge, and huge racists! Yeah those guys I don't really like much. Oh, sorry Weiss." Caelum finishes off apologizing, with the heiress fuming at their words, the hooded girl laughing in the background, and the girl with the bow smirking, amused at Caelum's witty remark.

"Wha- How dare you- The nerve of... Ugh!" Weiss gets up in the girl with black's face and takes the bottle from her and glares to Caelum, who wore a stupid smile while waving as she walks off in a huff as her helpers gather the luggage and follow.

The young girl says to the storming Weiss, still sorry, "I promise I'll make this up to you!" She then sighs, "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day... So, what's..." Only to end up watching as the other girl walks off as well, then collapses to the ground on her back, "Welcome to Beacon..." She remains this way until a shadow comes over her.

"Hey there. You alright? You're not hurt are you? From her words?" Caelum says to her, with a hand outstretched and a friendly smile. The girl smiles back and takes his hand, rising up on her feet, "Nah, words don't get to me that easily. I'm so sorry for forgetting about you helping me there earlier. Thank you so much!"

"Not a problem! Glad to help. I'm Caelum! You are…?"

"Ruby...Ruby Rose. Hey, you were on the same ship as me! I recognise you with your silver hair and your scarf!" She realises now when she was talking with her sister that she caught a glimpse of silver in the corner of her eye, but missed it by a millisecond.

"I was? Huh, I guess so. Hey, where is everybody at?" The angel said, looking around.

Sure enough, the front of the school was flat out empty compared to what it was before. Not a single trace of a soul anywhere. Caelum closed his eyes and scanned the entire school's vicinity for any life force, earning a confused look from his new friend.

"Uh, Caelum? What are you doing?"

He didn't answer. Instead, beckoned her to follow him in a single direction to the front of the school. Albeit still confused, Ruby complied and followed her new friend to wherever he's leading them.

After a few minutes of silence, she started off softly with a shy look, "So...I got this thing!" She pull out a bulky, mechanical scythe with complicated details about it, with an impressive blade, giving off a dangerous vibe to it.

Caelum grew starry eyed, admiring the design of her weapon, "Wow! That is a gigantic scythe! I'm impressed!"

She blushes at the compliment she received and smiled in a very happy manner, "I know, right?! It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!"

"Cool, a gun mode! This thing has everything!"

Ruby smiled and nodded in thanks, but now was curious about him, "So what do you have?"

He blinked and slapped his head in remembrance, before he unsheathed his trusty sword on his waist, "Well, this is all I have really. I created it myself. Coated in rare silver that was not very easy to find, completed with fire, lightning, and ice capabilities. And the real kicker is, no dust is involved in any way, shape, or form! It just comes naturally when I fight with it."

"Oh wow! So amazing! So no dust is required at all? Is that even possible?!" Ruby was overwhelmed with his sword properties. Was it his semblance? No. He said it comes naturally. Not really saying its his semblance. She's never heard of any weapon that has special abilities such as fire or lightning without any dust to prove it useful. This sword is unlike any other she's ever seen! But one last thing garnered her attention, and that was the weird shaped instrument on the other side of his waist, "Caelum? Is that a trumpet you got there? What's it for? Is it something you keep around or do you actually play it?"

"My trumpet...well, I do play it, but that is only when there is a very good time to call for it. It's a weapon, but not in the way you think."

"Not in the way I think? So no bullets, dust, or different form? That's kind of weird. If it's a weapon but isn't equipped with anything to shoot or slice, then...ooooh! This is hurting my head!" She scratches her head in thought. What could it be then? Is this a trick question? Is he messing with her?

"Don't think about it too much. Look, we're already here: the main foyer." Caelum points out. Ruby look up from her thoughts and looks to see the students all in a crowd facing a stage where Glynda is standing with a microphone.

"Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!" A rather loud voice that overlaps every other voice in the auditorium is audible. Ruby and Caelum look over to see a blonde with violet eyes, wearing yellow and mixed with orange waving at the former.

"Oh, that's my sister, Yang! See you, Caelum! It was very nice meeting you!" She waves goodbye, walking off to her sister. Caelum waves energetically back, smiling as always. He lowered his hand and faced another person next to him, this time a redhead with green eyes and bronze armor covering almost all of her figure.

"Hello there! I am Caelum. How are you?" He smiled and rose a hand in greeting. The armored girl jumps in slight shock, but smiled and returned the gesture, "I am doing fine, thank you for asking! I'm Pyrrha Nikos. Nice to meet you!"

"Pyrrha...Pyrrha Nikos...I'll be sure to remember it. Good luck with you future endeavors, Pyrrha!" Caelum shakes her hand before walking off in a different direction. Pyrrha meekly nodded to him and looked at her hand.

' _That boy...he didn't recognize me at all. Not a single trace of recognition in his eyes. Finally. Someone who doesn't see me as Pyrrha Nikos, Mistral Champion_.' The redhead smiled and clutches her hand to her heart.

Back with Caelum, he takes a look around at every corner of the building and takes note of the various weapons each student possess. He smiled and waved at each one, who returned the gesture back.

' _For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. And that is what I will make sure of. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit._ ' Caelum resolves with dignity. A tap on the microphone up on the stage cut off his thoughts and paid close attention to Ozpin, who was looking through the crowd. He smiled when he spots Caelum in the crowd before returning to his earlier demeanor.

"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." Ozpin walks off the stage, slowly with a push of his cane.

' _Good call. Calling them out on their decision of attending Beacon. After all, they should not expect this to be an easy ride. Testing their will is one way to warn them of the dangers of a life dedicated to fighting those abominations._ ' Caelum nods and walks off to do something before nightfall.

In the ballroom, students laid out there sleeping supplies to rest up for the morning. Ruby, in her pajamas and with a sleeping mask around her head, is writing in a journal when her sister Yang crashes next to her, similarly dressed.

"It's like a big slumber party!"

Ruby, not looking up, replies back, "I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though."

"I know I do!" Yang purrs as she watches several muscular, shirtless guys… and a silver haired boy in the corner with his own sleeping bag, folding his hoodie and putting it next to him. She gets a good look at his average but perfect figure exposed with bandages on his chest, making her hot in the face. She didn't expect him to look her way and smile innocently and waved energetically, in which she waves flirtatiously back. Ruby notices the slight silence before she peers up at her sister looking at someone from afar. She looks to see what got her sister's attention like that and a great smile almost split her face in half, "Oh it's Caelum! Oh, I feel kinda bad ditching him like I did."

"You know him? Why didn't you tell me?" Yang inquires. Ruby making friends already on the first day...and a boy no less. That's different.

"Yeah, like I said, I feel bad forgetting him like that. That's the second time that I've done that today." She then frowns, forgetting about her first friend here so easily for a second time.

"Yeah Ruby, how could you forget about him? I could only imagine how he feels right about now." Said a voice beside her.

"Yeah, I kno-wait. Who said…" Ruby paused and looked over her shoulder to see Caelum sitting cross legged beside her and Yang. Yang yelped and fell back on her mat on the floor and Ruby squeaked in surprise. Caelum chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I just got up and walked on over here. Guess you didn't see me coming."

Yang breathed in relief before grinning and points to herself, "Hiya! I'm Ruby's older sister Yang! You gave me quite the scare there. Nice to finally meet you! Thank you for befriending Ruby here. She's sorta new to this whole making friends thing."

"You are most certainly welcome. But you make it sound like Ruby here doesn't have that many friends. That's quite the shocker, considering her cute appearance and friendly air about her. It's a wonder why she doesn't have that many connections to people." Caelum says, surprisingly solemnly. A person like Ruby deserves many friends. She just has that real easy aura that makes you feel comfortable talking with her.

Said girl fidgets in her spot, blushing from the sudden compliment her friend gave her, ' _I'm...cute?_ '

Yang gets put on edge from that little innuendo that Caelum mentioned, but stopped when she sees the sad expression on his face, surprising her. He's that concerned for her social life? Guess he's not that bad after all.

"I really appreciate you looking out for her. I've never seen anyone outside from home give her this much time of day. It's nice, wouldn't you say Ruby?"

"U-Umm...y-yes! Thank you, Caelum. It means a lot to me." She thanks shyly.

"Like I said, my pleasure." Caelum smiled.

The two sisters and angel notice a candle being lighted nearby, and the girl from before with the bow is seen leaning against a wall, reading her book.

"That girl…" Ruby mutters to Caelum, who nodded in acknowledgment.

"You two know her?" Yang inquires.

"Not really. She saw what happened this morning, but left before we could say anything." Caelum pointed out.

"Well, now's your chance!" Yang grabs Ruby's arm and lifts her up, Caelum following.

Ruby yells in defiance, "Wait! What are you doing?!"

The mysterious girl looks over her book to see Ruby unsuccessfully struggling against Yang's grip as she leads her sister over to her spot before letting go, Caelum, meanwhile, was keeping watch with an eyebrow raised at their behavior.

Yang sings in greeting, "Hel-looooo! I believe you three may know each other?"

The girl looks to the both of them, "Aren't you... that girl that exploded? And you're the one who made that really good quip at the Schnee heiress."

Ruby gives up and answers, "Uh, yeah! My name's Ruby! But you can just call me Crater..." She smiles, embarrassed, "Actually, you can just call me Ruby."

She goes back in her book, "Okay."

"And I'm Caelum! Pleased to meet you!" He smiled to her with his signature greeting.

It could be contagious when the girl smiled microscopically and raised her own hand back, "Hello."

Yang is amazed at how fast Caelum worked.

' _He makes it look so easy._ ' She then began whispering to Ruby, "What are you doing?

Ruby whispers back, "I don't know - help me!" She goes back to smiling.

Yang looks down at the girl again, "So... What's your name?"

The girl looks away from Caelum and back to Yang, sighing as she's distracted yet again, "Blake."

"Well, Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister! I like your bow!"

Blake starts to get irritated, "Thanks!"

"It goes great with your... pajamas!"

"Right…"

Yang continues as Ruby laughs uncomfortably and Caelum giving the two a look, "Nice night, don't you think?"

Blake ultimately tries to end the pathetic attempt at keeping the conversation going, "Yes - it's lovely! Almost as lovely as this book!" Ruby, Yang, and Caelum stand there, "That I will continue to read." The trio continue standing, "As soon as you leave!" And there it is.

Yang turns to Ruby and Caelum, "Yeah, this girl's a lost cause."

"Hey! Is that the Man With Two Souls? Cool! You love that series?" Caelum shouts excitedly, finding someone with the same taste in books as he does.

The three girls jump in surprise at his proclamation, with Blake muttering slightly to him, "You...read these?"

"Yep! They're one of the few books that I ever enjoy reading." He shares to the group, reminiscing about a certain book of his that he cherishes.

Blake, in all her time here, is actually starting to appreciate this school more than usual. She looks to Ruby who continued on with what Caelum is doing, "I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters... They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress!"

Blake laughs a little, "And why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

Ruby doesn't falter, "Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books... Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!"

Blake leans back in surprise at the girl's view of the world, "That's... very ambitious for a child." Her smile turns into a frown, "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

Ruby, despite what she's hearing, isn't giving up, "Well, that's why we're here! To make it better."

Caelum smiles at Ruby, while Yang goes over the line, "Oh, I am so proud of my baby sister!" She hugs Ruby into the air.

Ruby tries kicking out, "Cut it out!". The forced sisterly bonding evolves into a dust cloud of fighting limbs and flying stars, Caelum backing away from the two.

Blake laughs slightly, "Well, Ruby, Yang, Caelum, it's a pleasure to ha-"

Our resident heiress storms onto the scene in her own pajamas as Ruby traps Yang's leg, "What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?"

Weiss and Yang then yell at the sight of each other, "Oh, not you again!"

Ruby tries to pipe them down, "Shh! Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!"

"Oh, now you're on my side!"

"I was always on your side!"

Yang defends Ruby, "Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!"

Weiss retorts back, "She's a hazard to my health!"

Caelum, despite the arguing, smiles at the four from the sidelines, ' _This is where it begins. The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps._ '

Blake, who rolls her eyes at the fight, simply closes her book, reaches over to grab her candle, and blows it out, enveloping the room in darkness.

"Thank you, Blake."

"My pleasure."

 **xXxX**

 **I forgot to put this in the summary for all to see, but Caelum will be replacing Jaune in this story. I've realized there are tons of these on here where there's an OC of sorts, or crossovers where the main character or another character of a different universe replaces him. So I thought, "Why not add to that scale?"**


	3. Viribus

Caelum never slept as it is not required for an angel to sleep. Or it's more like he can't sleep no matter how hard he tries to. Of course he has a physical body, but he doesn't have a physical mind to shut off like humans do when they sleep, so no sleeping for him. But such a trivial thing like sleep won't get to him as he is getting ready for whatever Ozpin might throw at them. He's heard rumors about teams and the assignment method that there are four in each team after they complete their initiation in the forest right outside in the back of the school.

His mind then wanders off to the few friends that he has made yesterday all in the span of several hours. Ruby is very young. So young that she isn't supposed to be here, and yet here she is. He wonders what she could've done to meet the standards of Ozpin at the age of fifteen. Now that's awesome. It makes sense, since she wields that sniper scythe and he could only imagine what kind of skill she possesses to carry around that huge thing. It's quite a feat to be carrying it around like that with her size. Her aura is vast and the same colour as his hair, the brilliant hue of silver. And that friendly persona that she gives off is refreshing to him. If only people can be more like her. And also if she can get rid of that shy nature of hers.

Yang is the complete opposite of Ruby in every way. She loud and boisterous, and she doesn't quite get the hint when someone wants to be left alone. She is pretty protective of Ruby, which makes sense since she's her sister. And that's another thing about the two. Their sisters. Half sisters to be exact. Not one similarity between them, looks or personality. Perhaps they have different dads or different moms. Maybe he shouldn't bring that topic up, unless if he wants to lose them as friends forever. Anyways, Yang and her fiery spirit. Her aura glows a bright yellow like the sun. He feels a warm atmosphere when standing next to her, kind of like standing next to an open oven that is turned all the way. Nevertheless, she's a good person.

Next is that Pyrrha character he met briefly after Ruby had left to meet up with Yang before Ozpin's opening speech. She seems nice for the most part, but he sensed the feeling of longing in her heart for something he can't quite make out. She needs to get rid of it. Desire is not a good thing for a human no matter what it is. If a human doesn't get what they want, then they would go to extreme lengths for it or they will fall into a deep depression and close out the world around them.

' _Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart_.'

And for her aura…

It glows a bright red like an apple in the sun. And there is a lot of it. So vast and flawless in every way. That only describes what she is capable of. He is expecting great things from her and her time here in Beacon.

Blake is somewhat of an oddball. Very mysterious and quiet like a mouse in the night. She's your typical bookworm that doesn't get out much to really know what to do when talking with somebody. And the thing about books is that they are her thing. Maybe he can introduce the book to her and see what she thinks of it. If she doesn't like it, then hey, what can you do? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Her aura is so secluded and closed off that he can't get a good reading of it. He can try to pry further into her soul, but that is just going too far even for him. But it is strong he knows that much.

Before he can even think again, he ends up where the student lockers are. Rows and rows of them are organized like book shelves that are stacked high as well. He approaches one of them that was assigned to him which was low to the floor. He bends down and began to take his weapon from the inside where it was kept safe all night. The staff appointed locker numbers to them yesterday right before they had to show for the ballroom to sleep. He heard muffled voices from two rows behind him that sounded familiar to him, so he quickly grabs his trumpet as well before leaving to greet the owners of the voices.

"Well, remember, Ruby, you're not the only one going through initiation. If you wanna grow up, you're gonna have to meet new people and learn to work together."

A frustrated sigh can be heard more clearer as he gets closer to the corner where they at, "You sound like Dad! Okay, first of all: What does meeting new people have to do with fighting? And secondly: I don't need people to help me grow up! I drink milk!"

He finds Ruby with her arms crossed and her eyes closed while Yang gives her a concerned look that shows nothing but worry. He knocked on the side of the lockers, gaining their attention as expected when he spoke up to address the situation, "Good morning, you two! I couldn't help but overhear your little conversation and I'm quite concerned. What's going on?"

"Ruby here doesn't want to get out there and meet new people to help her grow into a more open and mature person." Yang told on her.

"I told you, I drink milk!"

Caelum gives Ruby his most serious expression, scaring her a bit, "Listen Ruby. Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."

Ruby grew confused at his choice of words, while Yang smiled, knowing where Caelum is getting at, "Huh? I don't quite understand, Caelum."

"What I'm saying is this: There is mutual benefit in the rubbing of two iron blades together; the edges become sharper, making the knives more efficient in their task to cut and slice, and it is with this that we, as people, are to sharpen one another—in times of meeting, fellowship, or any other interaction." Caelum explained, Yang thanking Caelum internally.

Ruby's eyes grew in realization and draws a circle on the floor with her foot, "Oh, okay. I see. Well, I'll try at least...for you two."

They nodded in appreciation and made their way to Beacon Cliff when Glynda called for the first year students for the initiation.

Yang turned to Caelum with a wide grin, "Thank you so much, Caelum! Who knows what could happen to Ruby if you aren't here."

Caelum shakes his head in modesty, "Please, think nothing of it, Yang. Although, I can get what she is trying to tell us. She's getting to that age where she feels like she can do everything by herself, and one day she will. She'll prove us all wrong one way or another. But for now, she needs her sister now more than ever now that she is following in the footsteps of a young huntress-in-training. So stay by her side until you both know that she's ready to fly solo."

Yang nods vigorously and gave him a thumbs up. Caelum smiled his signature grin before turning ahead once more. Yang glances to him once more, smiling in a more different way with half lidded eyes.

' _You are something else, aren't you Caelum_?'

 **xXxX**

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin announces, holding his ever present mug of coffee.

Glynda then cuts in, "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

Ruby whines quietly, "What? Ohhh…"

Ozpin picks up from there, "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."

Ruby groans.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Caelum could've sworn he heard glass shattering from where Ruby and Yang were waiting at, "Whaaaat?!"

Ozpin continues, "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die." He takes a glance towards Caelum, who was staring into the vastness that is Emerald Forest.

' _Of course with an exception. But we'll just have to wait and see if he's really telling the truth_.'

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" Ozpin pauses.

Silence.

"Good! Now, take your positions."

Everyone strikes a pose on their tile. A girl with auburn hair crouches low, a male with black hair with a magenta streak wields his weapons, Yang raises her fists, Ruby readies her body, and Caelum grips his sword which was still on his waist.

Then one by one, each student began to fly off their tile, with the auburn haired girl laughing all the way, and the boy with her silently maneuvered himself in midair to angle himself better.

At her turn, Yang winks at her younger sister, puts on a pair of aviators, and flies off with a "Woo-hoooooooo!" a second before Ruby joins her.

Ozpin and Glynda turn towards their angel friend who was about to fly off last, only to see an outline of where he was standing. Dumbfounded, they heard the faint sound of wings flapping when they looked back to the forest to witness Caelum with his wings out in their full glory. Gold in colour, and with a wingspan that is longer than any Nevermore they've ever seen in their entire career as huntsman. He dives down and disappears in the trees below.

Glynda, open-mouthed, turned to Ozpin to began to go off, "Sir! H-He just...he just grew wings! He really is one of these angels that he keeps on about! But...they were in astral projection before, weren't they? So, why did we see them now?"

Ozpin hums and sipped on his mug before answering, "Who knows? Maybe our senses were too dull to not have perceived them correctly. Perhaps he can control whether or not us humans can look at them."

Glynda gulps and calmed herself down and proceeded to keep watch on her students by her tablet's screen, still stirred by Caelum's wings.

Ozpin sips his coffee again, narrowing his eyes in thought.

xXxX

Caelum, after putting on that little show for his professors, dove to about an inch above the ground before continuing to fly just over it. He kept his guard up because you never know what could happen against the Grimm, and with a forest this large there's bound to be a multitude of them.

He dropped to the floor in a swift motion of his feet to dodge an incoming swing of a white, bone-y claw, dragging them on the ground to stop his speed from flying. He regained his ground before facing what was about to strike him in the face. An Ursa of an abnormal huge stature appeared, baring his teeth to him in an intimidating manner but Caelum donned a flat expression, betraying any emotion. This seem to have aggravated the bear as it dug its claw in the ground before lifting them up and tearing off chunks of Remnant, every piece falling in line towards the angel. Caelum, with a quick withdrawal of his sword, swiped the air sending a vicious wind to the rocks and hardened ground cracking them into more pieces, creating a miniature meteor shower. The Ursa made the mistake of rolling on the ground to dodge each of them, when Caelum rushed to it and promptly stabbed his blade in its back, rendering it into a puff of black smoke immediately. He wiped his face off from dirt with his scarf and looked back at it to notice it had no stains of grass or dirt of any kind. He smiled and went on his way.

But he didn't get to far when a bush nearby shook, its leaves moving against each other to create its noise. He then watches as a familiar redhead with armor comes out of hiding, looking at him with wide eyes.

"That was gold, Caelum. How did you do that with your sword?"

He smiled and complied with her question, "It was just a _very_ strong swing. Nothing too complicated behind it."

She looked skeptical at first before shaking her head and smiling at him, "Looks like we're partners for the next four years."

"Yep! We sure are!"

They smiled at each other for the last time before they walked alongside each other, Pyrrha internally thanking whoever made this happen.

A while later, Caelum and Pyrrha are standing at the mouth of a dark cave, where drawings are seen to the side involving armed men against giant beasts.

' _This reminds me of the days after Joseph of Egypt had died. Tales and numerous hieroglyphics depicting his time of his reign, Pharaoh plotting against him when he was accused of lying with his wife...everything_.'

"Caelum, are you alright? You seem to be in very deep thought over there." Pyrrha asks, concerned.

"I'm just fine. I'm thinking about how these drawings are very similar to the ones that I know of. But it was a long time ago, so don't dwell on it for too long." Caelum dismissed her easily with a smile.

Pyrrha frowns but complied nonetheless. They passed by the cavern until a monstrous shriek from within shook the foundation of its place, stopping the Mistral Champion in her steps but the angel never taking his eyes off the entrance.

"I'll be right back." Caelum tells his partner before walking into the cavern. Pyrrha reaches a hand to stop him, but he was a well distance away for her to do anything. She was about to follow but something kept her there, her eyes widen as her partner entered the cave. Moments later, a piercing sound of a high frequency like after an explosion, your ears start to ring occurred. A great, bright light leaked out from the entrance and a Death Stalker escaped from the confines of the cave, with Caelum walking back out with a blank face.

"Death Stalker! Caelum, we have to stop it before it gets to any of our comrades!" Pyrrha shouts to her partner, but didn't have to as he was already on the move.

He channeled a strong heat signature through the sword's structure, a brilliant white fire outlined it before proceeding to throw it into the air. It flew at great speeds into the sky and then it disappeared in a twinkle. Caelum set his focus onto the Death Stalker, who was staring at the blinking light that was the fire sword traveling at light speeds. It felt a pressure from behind courtesy of one angel sent straight from above, his fist coated in white lightning. The bones cracked under the pressure and ultimately broke off from the Grimm, with it snarling in pain.

Caelum grinned and dodged its swing of its tail before returning it with an axe kick, this time coated in white ice to its head where a spot was exposed. The Grimm withered under the impact and crashed into the ground, dazed out of its mind. It couldn't respond quick enough to dodge the descending sword which pierced it's exposed back from the punch earlier and immediately deceased.

He retrieved his sword and wrapped it back up with the white cloths still tied to his waist and quickly ran back to his partner's side, who stared at him in amazement at his quick blows to finish something like a Death Stalker off so fast. They continued to walk in a random direction, when Pyrrha broke the silence,

"Caelum, that was amazing! You can control a few of the basic elements! Is that your semblance?"

"Nah. I've always had them since I was little. I don't have a semblance." Caelum told her, who was confused greatly.

"Don't have a semblance? Then how-"

"Hey look! Up there! Isn't that Ruby and Weiss?" Caelum pointed to the sky up above. Pyrrha followed his hand where she saw two tiny dots, red and white respectively, which were hanging off of the Nevermore high above.

"Oh no…"

"Come on. We are going to follow it."

Caelum ran through the forest with Pyrrha hot on his tail. After tireless running, they made it to a temple where chess pieces are placed on podiums with Yang and Blake are looking up towards the sky where a familiar reaper is seen falling to her impending doom.

Ruby is still falling right towards them, Yang watching helplessly, "Heads uuuuuuuup!"

Just as she's about to hit the ground panicking, a gold blur blinds her vision and she feels as if she's riding a rollercoaster at super speeds, she began getting a bit dizzy. The "ride" finally comes to an end and she is set down on the comfortable grass.

"Oohhhh... What was that?" The dizziness passes when she shakes her head.

"Hey, Ruby. Are you okay?" She looks up and sees Caelum with his addicting grin plastered on his face, making her smile.

"Yes, thank you-woah. Haaaah…."

Her mind goes into overdrive when she looks behind Caelum and notices a brilliant pair of golden wings that shined in the sun. Her eyes began to water and she backs away from him, his look turned confused.

"Huh? What's wrong Ru... by. Oh no…"

Blake, Yang, and Pyrrha are the same as Ruby, with their eyes watering, while simultaneously beginning to choke up. Their skin gets that tingly feeling when they witness something terrible or very wonderful. Such a thing is impossible for a human to have wings like that. It's impossible for a human to have wings at all, unless if you're a Faunus. It wasn't until Yang spoke that everyone regained their senses,

"C-Caelum? A-Are you a... F-Faunus? _Please tell me you are_ …"

"I am neither human or Faunus, Yang," The exposed angel says, seeing there's no way out of this, "I am an angel of the Lord."

Before they can even ask what an angel is, several crashing noises are heard in the forest ahead of them, and an Ursa comes out, claws swiping, just as a pink blast of energy hits it in the back and it crashes to the ground, depositing its rider. Caelum wisely hiding his wings from sight.

"YEEEE-HAAAAW!" A feminine holler spoke loudly. A pink figure rolls off of the creature's back, then gets up and groans, saddened, "Awwww... It's broken." She dashes onto its neck and observes the carcass as another figure comes up behind her, this time male

The boy pants and leans on the monster, "Nora! Please... Don't ever do that again." He looks up again and notices by the pink dotted outline of where his partner should be that Nora has run off again, and looks around frantically.

Nora, now introduced, is in the Temple, staring at a golden rook relic, "Oooohh…," She suddenly grabs it, and starts dancing out of nowhere, "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"

"Nora!"

Nora stops dancing with the rook on her head, then salutes, dropping the relic into her hand "Coming, Ren!" Nora skips off to her friend.

A shake of leaves grabbed Caelum's attention as a huge Death Stalker rushed through the trees, stalking the group. He unsheathes his blade and threw it shuriken style at the ground before it when a silver ring manifested on the surface and encircled the monster, trapping the Deathstalker from getting any further.

Blake, now shaken from the amazing revelation from earlier, turns to Yang, who was looking down on the ground, "Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?"

"I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!" She looks up and yells, clearly agitated, with tears streaming down her face, confusing those who weren't here before.

"Umm... Yang?" Ruby, now up from her weak demeanor, tugs on her sister's sleeve and points. Yang wipes her face and looks.

Up above, Weiss is revealed to be hanging on a talon the size of her entire body that belongs to a gigantic Nevermore.

Weiss calls down to Ruby, "How could you leave me?!"

Ruby shouts up at Weiss, "I said "jump"!"

"She's gonna fall."

"She'll be fine."

"She's falling." Ren counters as Weiss falls in a sitting position, hoping that will soften her landing somewhat.

Meanwhile, Caelum looks to the group with mournful eyes. He wants to save Weiss of course, but is that really worth it if he shows what he truly is?

Oh very much so!

Yang and Pyrrha turn their heads to the sound of a high pitched ringing that piercing their ears and they screamed when Caelum spread his pair of wings to their fullest extent as he flapped them once and took off toward Weiss at blinding speeds. Nora and Ren sees this and gasp in shock at the boy they saw earlier go flying through the air with beautiful wings in order to save the falling heiress. And just like what happen to the four girls before, their eyes grew teary and they backed up, fear written on their faces.

Caelum closed his eyes and proceeds to recite in his mind, ' _Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator_.'

Weiss felt like this is the end for her. And on _initiation day_ no less! She feels so embarrassed, but gasped in shock when she felt a pair of hands grab her waist and felt the air shift in the opposite direction where it was hitting her. After a few minutes, she sees the wonderful ground below her. But what was grabbing onto her just now? A gold light hit the side of her face as she turned her head behind her and inhaled a sharp take of air. The boy from yesterday who accidentally mocked her family name is here, with wings and is saving her hide. Her eyes grew teary and she tried struggling in fear but realized where she was. Instead, she clinged on to Caelum for dear life as he look down on her with a graceful smile. He descends into a sharp stop right above the ground and quickly deposited her with the rest of the group, who stared at him with moist eyes.

He shrugs and merely said, "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good."

Ren, the most levelheaded one of the group, nodded at his words and went to pick his chess piece. By then, all who didn't get one now went to receive theirs.

"Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us." Weiss tells the group. They all stare at the relics.

Ruby agrees, "She's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs." She nods to Weiss, "There's no point in fighting these things.

"That's a very good plan, you two. Alright, let us hurry." Caelum goes to grab a gold rook and Ruby goes over and grabs a gold knight, smiling at each other. Just then, a loud shriek garnered their attention right above them when it swooped down to pick one of them off, which was Pyrrha, who promptly rolled to the right to avoid.

Ren shouted calmly, "Time we left!"

Ruby waves to the others, "Right! Let's go! She marches on forward with everyone following except for a smiling Yang and Caelum as Blake approaches them.

"What is it?"

Yang stares proudly at Ruby as she leaps on a boulder and motions the group onward, "Nothing…" She moves on as Caelum looked at Blake and motions to Ruby, who was smiling. Blake grins in realization.

Caelum looks back at his blade and summons it back, intentionally freeing the Deathstalker.

' _We're fine_.'

xXxX

The group is heading out of the forest and into another abandoned series of structures as the Nevermore follows them from the air. They spread out when it passes above, concealing themselves behind some of the stone blocks with their allies as it perches on a high column and caws.

Yang grows annoyed, "Well, that's _great_!"

The Deathstalker from before emerged through the forest behind and warned Caelum of its presence. He smiled and waited for the action to take place.

Ren calls to his friend, "Nora, distract it!"

Nora obliges, running out from her block and jumping through the feather projectiles before reaching behind her and launching several heart-topped shells from her grenade launcher, bursting into pink electricity when they hit the Nevermore, and causing it to retreat. She is unaware of the Death Stalker rushing up behind her until Blake and Ren perform a cross-slash with their Gambol Shroud and StormFlower against its shell. Weiss lands next to Nora so she can create a jumping platform beneath them and leap to safety while Blake and Ren are now being chased.

Nora obliges, running out from her block and jumping through the feather projectiles before reaching behind her and launching several heart-topped shells from her grenade launcher, bursting into pink electricity when they hit the Nevermore, and causing it to retreat. She is unaware of the Death Stalker rushing up behind her until Blake and Ren perform a cross-slash with their Gambol Shroud and StormFlower against its shell. Weiss lands next to Nora so she can create a jumping platform beneath them and leap to safety while Blake and Ren are now being chased.

"Go, go!" Pyrrha stops running beside Caelum and gets out Miló, firing red shots along Ren's green blasts for a second until it reaches them and tries to swipe, prompting the group to run again

The eight race over the ancient stone bridge, not noticing the Nevermore closing in on them until it uses its giant wings to shatter the path right in the middle, forcing Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Nora, and Caelum closer to the central collection of columns and Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha on the other side with the Death Stalker. Ruby fires at the retreating Nevermore while Blake is beaten back by the scorpion.

Caelum looks to where his partner and the two black haired teens were fending off " _scorpo_ " (as he likes to call it) and looks over to Nora, who held her hammer at her side, "Think you can rocket me over there to save time?"

Nora readied herself beside him, "Yes! Let's do this!"

"Alright! You know what to do." He shifts his position in front of Nora, back exposed and arms out in front of him.

She smiled and followed it up by slamming her hammer in the angel's back, who enjoyed the air hitting his face when he was sent rocketing towards the Deathstalker and successfully sucker punched it in the white bone mask, staggering it a whole lot.

Nora places one foot on the hammer and fires it off the collapsing section of bridge, launching her to slam its face right in the center of the Death Stalker's skull after Caelum moved out of the way. She fires it just as the stinger comes down to get her, and blasts back again to avoid its reach, accidentally knocking into Blake and making her fall from the edge. She sees the Nevermore above her and launches her whip so the gun's blade sinks into the edge of the bridge, circling around and leaping onto the aerial Grimm's back. She dashes all over its body, slashing the entire time, before jumping off and landing on the ruined platform at the top of the columns next to Ruby, then going over to Yang and Weiss.

Back with Caelum, the Death Stalker aims a claw at Pyrrha, but she deflects it with her Akoúo shield and slashes it with her blade. The scorpion recoils and swipes at her with its other claw, but Caelum rushed in to deflect it with his blade coated in lightning, knocking it back so Pyrrha can leap over and attack its face. Ren runs up firing and gets on the stinger when it tries to hit him, shooting at the base between it and the tail while Nora fires more grenades at the attacking claws. Pyrrha hurls her javelin straight into one of the monster's ten eyes, making it throw Ren to the side.

Nora shouts to her friend in worriment, "Ren!"

Ren is getting close to a boulder with great speed and prepared for impact, when all of a sudden he slowed down in midair but didn't question it in favor for pointing his feet to land on the side of the rock safely, to the relief of Nora. Ren shook his head from the trauma and looks to where Caelum smiles at him and gave him a thumbs up, in which Ren returned it with a "was that you?" look. All he received was a nod, as Ren smiled and nodded back. Caelum looked back at the Grimm they were currently engaging when he caught a glimpse of its stinger hanging limply.

"Pyrrha."

"Done!" She notices his act and raises the shield and hurls it like a discus, slicing the stinger off and causing it to fall into the Death Stalker's head as Pyrrha retrieves her rebounding shield.

"Nora, you're next."

"Heads up!" She answers and jumps on Akoúo, Pyrrha leaps as Nora aims her blast down to give herself a maximum lift, and she smiles the entire way up before twirling down until her hammer slams its head into the stinger, driving the point through the Death Stalker's head and crushing the bridge beneath it.

Caelum and Pyrrha bound over the monster to the land behind it, and Nora fires up and away behind them as the monster falls to its doom. Caelum had escaped long before it even happened and landed a safe distance away, Nora lands on her bottom, Pyrrha manages a crouched pose, and Ren simply walks over to them, panting and groaning until he just collapses. Pyrrha and Nora get up and watch as the Nevermore is peppered with firepower.

"Hold on. This looks like a job for my trumpet. That Nevermore is quite stubborn and it's time for curtains." His three friends watch as he unties his trumpet from his waist and brings it up to his mouth to play.

"Caelum, I don't think this is the time for music class." Pyrrha laughs nervously. Nora laughed at Caelum with his trumpet and Ren watches curiously. He hasn't forgotten about what happened when he landed safely on the rock. His new mysterious friend had something to do with it and he will get answers.

"Just watch." Caelum then blew and it only was one note that was played. A deep and powerful horn sound reverberated across the area, the four girls who were fighting the airborne fiend grew confused at the noise.

"Guys? What was that?" Ruby asked meekly. Weiss didn't answer as she looked around for the person or thing that caused it, Blake did the same and Yang just stayed put where she was at, not saying a word.

Caelum then stopped and tied his trumpet back up and proceeded to wait for it. Everyone didn't mutter a single sound and waited expectantly for something to happen.

' _The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up._ '

Multiple shines in the sky all managed to gain the seven's attention as they all stared in hysteria when a multitude of hail the size of golf balls and long flames mixed with blood were hurled down towards them. The Nevermore was the intended target and it was easy as it was the one closer to the shower and it quickly ceased to exist when the eight below witnessed numerous holes appear in the structure of the Grimm. The rest of the attack headed down where the group was who winced and reeled back from fear, but relaxed and watched in awe as a gold dome had protected them and the hail and fire were reflected. As for the Nevermore, it had set on fire and fell to the ground and when it did, shook the ground and summoned a grand earthquake, sending all but Caelum to the floor on their bottoms.

Caelum walked towards the Grimm's dismantled display as it dispersed in particles of black smoke and he smiled and spun around to meet his friend's priceless expressions.

"We can do all things through him who strengthens us."

All were silent until Yang spoke bluntly, "Holy Shit."

 **xXxX**

"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark." Back where the school is, the auditorium shows each of their profiles as the boys are lined up for the applauding audience to see as Ozpin continues, "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL (Cardinal), led by... Cardin Winchester!"

The audience gives one more wave of ovation, while four students walk up to the stage to take their places in front of the headmaster as their faces fill the screen.

Ozpin then resumes, "Caelum. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRPN (Krypton)."

Amid the clapping, Nora laughs and gives Ren a hug.

"Led by... Caelum!"

"Huh. That's different. I've never been a leader before. Not even in my time in heaven." The angel mutters to himself.

A grinning Pyrrha offers a friendly shoulder bump to Caelum who smiles in thanks as Nora bear hugs while lifting him up in the air, further showing her affection. Ren smiles and nods his way as Caelum nods back.

"And finally: Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long." He motions over the four as they stand before him, "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY (Ruby). Led by... Ruby Rose!"

Weiss looks to her right surprised, where Ruby is obviously in shock as Yang goes over to hug her sister.

"I'm so proud of you!"

Ozpin says amid the last round of cheers, "It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year."


	4. Puer Virtutem

The RPN of Team CRPN woke up earlier than each one of them usually do individually to the sound of singing from the restroom. They looked to their leader's bed simultaneously and see it devoid of any sign of anyone sleeping there. It looks like it was never touched to begin with. This garnered looks of confusion until Ren just put it that Caelum made it up before washing himself up.

 _Dark days are gonna go away_ _They won't have the final say_ _These bones were always gonna fade_ _'Cause we were made for another place_ _The moment of our final breath_ _When all our fears are put to rest_ _Every tear will disappear_ _Heaven is real_

' _So beautiful…_ ' Pyrrha secretly thought to herself, a peaceful smile on her face. Her leader… her partner's voice just unintentionally injected her with a calm impression that eased her morning spirit immensely. The smooth tone… the deep meaning behind the words. What is heaven? It sounds a lot like Haven, like Haven Academy in Mistral where she's from. Is it a play on words or is it a different place? Is it real or not?

 _We're gonna live on_ _Forever, forever, forever_ _We're gonna live on_ _Forever, forever, forever_ _We are not where we belong_ _We have a hope we're gonna live on_ _Forever, forever, forever_

Pyrrha and Ren gasped and rose in eyebrow respectively. They are gonna live forever? Yeah, as if that's even possible with this line of work! But he makes it sound like they are. He's so confident in everyone that they will be together forever, and that's certainly nice to think about. But that part about not belonging here… he must have a reason to be singing that with such vigor and joy. Nora just enjoyed listening to her leader sing while closing her eyes with a content smile, not really giving the hidden message a small thought.

The door to the bathroom opened and out came their mysterious leader, all dressed up for their first day as a team in Beacon. He looked to where his teammates' beds were and gave them his signature grin, "A very good morning to you three! All rested up from yesterday?"

Ren spoke up with a flat but sincere tone, "We are. We just have to freshen up too and we'll be on our way to class."

Caelum snapped his fingers and spoke actively while pointing at him with gun hands, "I like your energy, Lie Ren!"

Pyrrha laughed at his antics while Ren highly doubted his leader's opinion on his attitude. Nora ran in a pink blur to the restroom and shut the door quickly, laughing through every motion.

"Nora gets it." The angel praised his hammer-wielding friend.

"Caelum. Uh, what were you talking about in there just now? Something about a heaven and and living forever…" Pyrrha hesitantly asked.

Caelum kept his cool and answered her politely, "I believe I'll have to explain several things before telling you. We have like an hour anyways, so there's plenty of time. But first, all of you have to get ready first."

They both agreed and waited for their turn. After they all got dressed, Ren told Nora about Caelum and his wanting to clear things up between them. She agreed as she secretly wanted to find out about his wings from yesterday's initiation.

The three gathered around Caelum who was on his bed, going over on how he can explain this in the best and easy way he can.

"Alright. I'm sure you've seen a couple of things that seem out of the norm from me. So, what do you wanna know first?"

"To start, your wings… what are they? Are you a bird Faunus or anything related to that?" Pyrrha inquired. Those wings are really starting to get to her.

"I am not a bird Faunus or anything of the sort. I am an angel of the Lord, my Father. I'm here on His behalf of protecting this precious world from those abominations you call Grimm."

The three glanced at each other, confused out of their minds at what an angel is or this Lord person, but this "Lord" is his father according to what he says. Ren dug deeper into his memory to recall if he ever heard of the term "angel" but so far nothing. It was then that Ren decided to finally get to the bottom of this, "Can you _please_ explain to us what exactly is an angel, Caelum?"

Caelum smiled nimbly at him, Ren staggering back sweating, "Yes I will. I really could not stand leaving you guys in the dark for this long. If you want to get technical, angels are created beings. We are an entirely separate type of creature from humans. We are as different to you as you are to animals. We are intelligent beings, emotional beings, and we each have an individual personality and will. Angels are spirit beings and do not have physical bodies. But when you look at me, I am an exception. You see, there are different types of angels. Roughly nine now that I remember, and each one are categorized from strongest to weakest. From weakest to strongest, there is angel, archangel, principality, power, virtue, domination, throne, cherubim, and finally seraphim."

Pyrrha and Ren were the most fascinated and shocked ones, while Nora just had a childish grin, likely the one where a child just found out about something really cool that they didn't know before. Ren was losing composure at this newfound secret. Now he was starting to think that the higher-ups were keeping this to themselves if they even know about it. He is betting that they don't.

"So what _kind_ are you, leader?! Which one?!" Nora jumped in Caelum's face, him laughing at her excitement. He's never met anyone with her energy before, so this is a nice change of pace.

"I am a seraphim, Nora. I can tell you more about them if you like."

"Seeing as they are the strongest out of the nine, I would like for you to explain." Pyrrha asked kindly. Her partner just happens to be the strongest of the bunch and that kind of thrilled her a bit.

"Alright then, but it will be pretty long. Seraphim are the strongest, as you know. They bear six wings in total. They also inherit powers that our Father entrusted them with and they may utilize these with or without their wings being out, me included. I also have the honor in using these powers to defend all life from obscene acts. When they have two wings exposed, they are basically for flight usages only. When there's four exposed, their strength, speed, endurance, flexibility, and agility enhances threefold. Once all six wings are shown, the seraph enters a state of idleness, two pairs of wings covering their face, two covering their feet, and two with which they fly. This is their most powerful form they can enter, and every single thing, living or not, cannot get even a mile near it due to them giving out a ridiculously powerful atmosphere that makes it hard to breath. If they try, it will not be a pretty sight, for they will lose all feeling in their bodies, their eyes and ears will bleed, and their flesh will turn black from the extreme heat. Only fellow seraphs and our Father are exempt from this. That is why they are categorized as the strongest. Any more questions?"

He should have concluded with something more lighthearted, because when he turned to them to answer any more questions, Nora was hiding her face with a pillow and leaning closer to Ren, who stared at his seraph friend with explicit eyes that show fear, and his partner holding a hand over her mouth with tears streaming down her eyes while breathing hysterically. Maybe he shouldn't use all six of his wings just yet.

"Oh no. Hold on for a second you guys…" Caelum closed his eyes on prayer and laid his hands on Pyrrha's shoulders in order to calm her down, which she did by an impressive margin. She then blushed at the contact and unconsciously leaned further into his touch. When she did though, she heard him mutter a few words that she caught on quickly,

" _-sus, I ask you to give Pyrrha all around peace in her mind, body, soul and spirit. I want you to heal and remove everything that is causing stress, grief, and sorrow in her right now. In your powerful name..._ "

Her leader opened his eyes and smiled tenderly at her, her facing heating up with each passing second. Her heart even fluttered at his peaceful gaze that eased her body once again this morning. Is this something only an angel can do?

"Is there anything else that might still sit uncomfortably with you guys that I should answer? I know there is something Ren. I saw you move in your seat whenever I mentioned my Father. You want to apprehend what I'm telling you?"

"If it's no trouble." Ren made sure quickly.

"I do not mind one bit talking about my Father. If there's one thing you three should know is that he is everywhere. He is love, power, and splendor—and He is a mystery. His ways are far beyond us, but He still reaches out to us. He is infinite yet intimate, three yet one, all-knowing yet all-forgiving. We will spend eternity cherishing an ever-deepening relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But He is mainly referred to as "God". Despite the distance sin demands, God has revealed Himself in countless ways."

Caelum went to his desk and pulled out a black, leather book that looks very thick and sturdy with a red bookmark tail sticking out from the bottom. He lends it to Ren, who looked confused but noticed gold lettering on the spine of the book.

 _The Holy Bible_.

Bible? Is this what this is? He opened it and flipped through the introduction before stopping at the page where it said "Table of Contents". There was sixty-six titles on the page, some were a bit odd and quite a mouth full. There were even people's names in the collection of titles. Are these characters in the book? Are they real or made up? He couldn't think anymore when Caelum spoke up again,

"The Bible is the story of God striving to reconnect with His children, and is a major method God uses to reach us. A mosaic of authors, styles and perspectives, the Bible reveals a God who is ever-creative, ever-patient and ever-seeking to restore our relationship with Him. Though written by ordinary people, through the Spirit it pierces our hearts, opens our eyes and convicts humans to live for Him."

Pyrrha couldn't help but ask something very important, but she didn't know, "What made humans so motivated to reach out to Him like this?"

Caelum looked down at the ground, his hair dropping low to shadow over his eyes. This alarmed Pyrrha into thinking she might've asked something really over the line and opened her mouth to apologize, but she widened her eyes when she heard him chuckling very lightly until he lifted his head to meet their eyes and unleashed a very rambunctious laugh with the most happiest grin they've seen yet.

"That...that is the million dollar question right there! That's just it, God gave them the most precious gift they could ever ask for! God sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life! His Son, Jesus Christ the King, died on a cross for your sins and everyone else's! A just and perfect God should not sweep sin under the carpet and move along. God must deal with the injustice of sin. Let's say a judge forgets everything a criminal has done like murder, rape, or theft simply because the judge loved the criminal. What would society think of the judge?" Caelum questioned his teammates.

The three all answered in unison, "They would believe the judge to be unfair and in favoritism of the criminal."

"Yes! Ren, in that bible, flip to the tab where it says Genesis and go through it and find chapter eighteen, verse twenty-five. Read it to us once you've found it."

Ren did as he was told and found it relatively quickly and began reading, " _Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?_ "

Pyrrha breathes in awe at the teaching of this book. This is nothing like what she's been told before. Good cannot die, because evil can be separated from it. Judgement means truth. This question signifies that the divine good cannot do this after the manner of truth separated from good, is evident from the signification of the "Judge of all the earth," as also from the signification of judgment.

"Selfishness has a natural consequence that eventually results in death to the innocent. Jesus, the Judge, assumed the consequence of sin on the part of man, rather than inflict death upon the sinner. That consequence was death." Caelum spoke with his smile still there.

The three felt their faces drop at the mention of Jesus dying for such a thing that was the human's fault in the first place. He really is a good man to give His life so easily like that. Does this show how much He cares for them? They've only found out about Him in less in than an hour and they already feel as if there's a deep connection between the four and Him already.

"Oh wow! The time reads 8:55! What time are we supposed to leave for class?" Caelum exclaimed to any one of his friends, panicking while grabbing his necessities for the classroom comically.

"I believe nine is our schedule." Ren spoke calmly as usual.

"B-But...that means…"

"It's 8:55, you dunce!"

A familiar voice resounded through the hallways, it reaching their room. They look out their dorm and recoiled back from Weiss rushing through the hallway and goes to greet the rest of RWBY, "Hey you guys! Let's hurry and get to class!"

Ruby appeared next to Caelum's side and agreed loudly with a fist raised in the air, "Yes! To class!"

In the courtyard, Ozpin and Glynda watch the two teams hurry through the school. Glynda looks at her watch, and Ozpin simply sips his coffee while keeping an eye on a certain silver haired student of his.

' _A seraphim, huh?_ '

 **xXxX**

The sight of an axe-blunderbuss weapon pans down to the boards displaying various species of Grimm - King Taijitu, Death Stalker, Beowolf, Boarbatusk, Nevermore, and Ursa - behind an elderly teacher named Professor Peter Port (That alliteration, geezus).

"Monsters! Deeeemons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!"

The members of RWBY and CRPN, seated on the two front rows, are in varying stages of interest; Blake and Yang are sitting up and paying attention, Weiss is taking notes, and Ruby has her head propped in her hand as she takes a quick nap until she is woken back up by Port's bad joke, which receives a cricket-filled silence as a result. Ren is seated straight up, paying attention with no trouble, Nora is pretty much in the same situation as Ruby, Pyrrha is sitting up with sheets of paper in front of her, sections already filled out. And Caelum…

"Ha-hahahaha!"

...laughed at the joke. The only one to laugh at the joke. His friends all looked at him thinking him to be crazy at laughing at that poor excuse for a joke.

Port smiled, happy that someone has a great sense of humor in this room. With that boost of his confidence he continued, "And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..." He pauses and gives Yang a wink, which she groans uncomfortably at, "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!

' _You could not be more right, sir. This world is in dire need of saving. Do not be afraid, my friends. For I am here._ ' He smiled and glances at his seven friends with amity.

A random student above them raises his fist, "Ayyyy-yep!" He stands like this for a moment as everyone looks at him strangely before sitting down, embarrassed.

"That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..." Port began.

His words fade into the background (and a series of "blah"s) when Weiss notices Ruby is very focused on penciling the paper in front of her.

"...Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man. 'Peter', he told me..."

The speech evolves into more "blah"s as Ruby snickers at her creation and shows it to her teammates: A general ball-with-limbs-and-a-head drawing of the teacher with stink lines coming from him and "Professor Poop" written underneath. Blake and Yang are heard laughing, but Weiss looks annoyed. Ruby taps on the desk above her, where Caelum was sitting and got his full attention away from Port's story. She shows him her crude drawing of his teacher and stiffens in his seat. Is he supposed to laugh or something? He humors her and faked a laugh which fooled her as she snickered with him.

"Ah-heh-hem!" Port waits until he has their attention again, "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!"

The teacher takes a bow as Weiss slowly gets more and more frustrated with Ruby's antics. Caelum Pyrrha notices this and looked to each other worriedly.

"The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable!"

Ruby is balancing an apple on a book with her pencil held only by her finger while making a silly face. Caelum stole a glance at the heiress and sees her fuming, head about to explode.

"A true Huntsman must be dependable!"

Ruby has fallen asleep yet again in the first class of the year.

"A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!"

Ruby is not-so-subtly picking her nose, much to Weiss' building anger.

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Weiss, still angry, raises her hand, "I do, sir!"

"Well, then, let's find out!" He turns to gesture at the glowing red eyes surrounded by shadow shaking the cage that traps it, "Step forward, and face your opponent!"

The unknown monster continues to growl as Caelum watches Weiss exits the room to change into her battle attire.

' _She better not ruin this for herself._ '

 **xXxX**

Now back in her regular attire, the heiress readies her Myrtenaster at the growling creature in the cage barely seen at the end of the last episode. Her teammates cheer her on from their seats in the front row.

"Goooo, Weiss!"

"Fight well!" Blake waves a small flag with their team name on it.

"Yeah, represent teeeeam RWBY!"

Weiss lowers her sword and looking over at her, "Ruby! I'm trying to focus!"

Ruby bent down on her desk and looks sheepish, "Oh, um... Sorry..."

Caelum watches Ruby with sympathy.

"Allllright!" Port says next to the cage, pulling out his axe, "Let the match... begin!"

The professor swings down and breaks the lock, dropping the cage door and revealing the Boarbatusk inside, which immediately charges at Weiss. She uses Myrtenaster to deflect its attack and roll to the side, readying herself for its next move. The Grimm stands a distance away from its enemy, studying her.

"Ha-ha! Wasn't expecting that, were you?"

"Hang in there, Weiss!"

Weiss is now speeding towards the oncoming Boarbatusk, sticking her blade straight at its skull until they meet and Myrtenaster is trapped in the beast's tusks. Weiss is still hanging on to the hilt, and is tossed around as she struggles to get the rapier back.

"Bold, new approach. I like it!"

Ruby tries to egg her partner on, "Come on, Weiss, show it who's boss!"

Weiss turns to glare at Ruby, only for the Boarbatusk to turn its head and rip the sword from her grip. Myrtenaster lands far away from its master, who is knocked back by the creature's tusks.

"Oh-ho! Now what will you do without your weapon?"

Weiss looks up just in time to see the Boarbatusk to charge again, rolling out of the way just in time to avoid getting trampled and make it crash into a desk. Weiss rushes at her sword and slides to get it back in her hand.

Ruby goes in to help her, "Weiss! Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-"

Weiss turns to Ruby, "Stop telling me what to do!"

Ruby looks hurt at Weiss' rebuttal. Caelum narrows his eyes in betrayal at his white haired friend. Meanwhile, the Boarbatusk leaps into the air and rolls into a ball, spinning rapidly in the air and landing on the ground, consistently gaining speed until it launches itself at Weiss. It comes closer and closer, but Weiss activates one of her blue-white circles and blocks the roll, leaping up into the now-black snowflake symbol and turning it blue again so she can drive the blade into the Boarbatusk's stomach. It squeals and falls silent while Weiss gasps in relief.

"Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!" Port praised as Weiss stands up at attention from her exhausted position and Ruby continues to frown, "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and... stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"

Weiss glares and turns away, walking hurriedly to the exit past her teammates. Ruby was quick to follow.

Pyrrha turns to her friends hurriedly, "Why is she so irritated?"

The remaining members of team RWBY look at each other with the same question.

"Caelum, do you-"

Yang finds Caelum's seat empty. His team looking around frantically for their leader.

"Caelum?!"

 **xXxX**

Weiss is still storming off, but Ruby turns a corner and manages to catch up with her. The two did not know a certain angel hiding himself around a corner, intent on listening to their impending feud.

"Weiss!"

Weiss turns around and asks furiously, "What?"

"What's wrong with you? Why are you being-?"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? You're supposed to be a leader, and all you've been so far is a nuisance!"

Ruby scoffs, "What did I do?"

"That's just it - you've done nothing to earn your position! Back in the forest, you acted like a child, and you've only continued to do so!"

"Weiss, where is this coming from? What happened to all the talk about 'working together'? I thought you believed in acting as a team."

"Not a team led by you. I've studied and trained. And quite frankly, I deserve better." Weiss turns her back to Ruby, trying to reach out but dropping her hand with the following words, "Ozpin made a mistake." She walks away as Ruby looks dejected.

"Ruby…" Caelum frowns and drops his head to the floor. A hand rests on his shoulders and without looking up, asks, "Hello Prof. Ozpin."

"Greetings, Mr. Caelum. Listening in on their argument, are you?" Ozpin inquires.

"Yeah. I've noticed an obvious change in Weiss' attitude in class and it was painfully evident that Ruby was hurt and confused at her behavior. I now know why she's so enraged."

"And why is that?"

"She feels that she deserves the position as leader of RWBY. She is very angry with Ruby because she is only a young teenager that moved up two years earlier than most and also that she doesn't live up to the name "leader"."

"Exactly. Which is why you are to speak with Miss Rose about it. You will do a much better job than I will at handling the situation because you are her friend. Port is handling with Miss Schnee as we speak." And with that, he left it there, sipping his mug while doing so.

Caelum looked at the headmaster's retreating form for an extra second before walking to Ruby, who began to leave, "Hey Ruby, wait!"

He jogged to her and felt two more presences by his side and sees Yang and Blake joining him to meet her.

Said person jumped in surprise while looking back and brightened up considerably, "Caelum, Blake, Yang!"

They stopped in front of Ruby, Yang asking straight away, "What happened, sis? You were looking very glum walking away there for a second."

Ruby's face fell at the question and asked with her hands behind her back, "Do you think Ozpin made a mistake in naming me leader?"

Caelum smiled benevolently, her face heating up at his kind offering before he spoke truthfully, "Honestly that remains to be seen. Nothing has has happened yet that have tested that. Ruby, let me tell you something…"

Ruby perked up at this. She did not forget what he taught her about making connections with the people close to her and that seemed to have worked. That gave her the strength to lead the eight towards Beacon Cliff safe and sound and made friends with Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha Nikos of all people! She nodded at him, telling him to carry on. Blake raised an eyebrow, wondering what could he possibly say to help her. Yang smiled again, thinking he's going to use that amazing way at speaking with people with their problems.

"Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. It seems at first to be an odd thing to say, since we don't have control over what others might think about us. Being young is not a license to act stupidly or experiment with destructive behaviors. Nor to be foolish, though others certainly use popular culture to imply otherwise. All of us make bad choices and decisions—spiritually mature adults included. But often when we're young, our spiritual inexperience and desire to be accepted by our peers makes us more vulnerable. The world around us shows youth and beauty as a license for hedonism, where nothing is to be denied. It affects us physically through the food and drink we consume to excess, financially through credit we can't manage, physically and emotionally in relationships focused on pleasure instead of more important matters. Responsibility is something we learn through practice. Using youth as an excuse for poor judgment or poor character is also learned through practice. Both will accumulate over time, and both are also reinforced every day by our thoughts and actions. So choose the right actions and all will be good. It may seem impossible, but you will be rewarded richly for your efforts."

The three gaped at his words and the emotion he put behind them. Blake grew speechless at what he said to her leader and smiled lightly at him, hoping that this tension with her team will all be over soon. Yang took a sharp inhale of air and shook in her place. He did it again. And it was all for her little sister's sake. He really is an amazing guy.

Ruby stood real quiet, her bangs shadowing her eyes away from sight. Caelum, Blake, and Yang heard her breathing heavily and spotted a stain on the floor below the red reaper.

Tears.

Ruby was crying. She looked up from the ground with her silver eyes swollen from tears and her lips quivering uncontrollably. Caelum couldn't act quick enough when Ruby pounced on him and wrapped her legs around him with her arms trapping his neck in a strong embrace. Caelum heard her sniffling in his neck, her tears dropping on his scarf and bouncing off harmlessly.

"Caelum...thank you so very much! I-I-I...I-I will do as you say! Nothing will get to me anymore! From this day forward, my actions will only reflect on my title as leader of Team RWBY and nothing will prevent that from happening!" Ruby said, gripping his hoodie tightly, not wanting to let go.

Caelum laughed at her strong resolve and hugged her back softly, "If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come. And your time is now, Ruby. Go, and make amends with Weiss, for all will be good after this day."

Ruby lifts her head from her friend's chest and smiled cutely at him before nuzzling his face with her cheek and went on her way to show Weiss she means business.

Caelum looked at her running down the hall with a blank look before turning to the BY part of his friends who stared back at him expectantly, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life."

Oh they believed.

 **xXxX**

The full moon shines over the green lights of Beacon, and in the room of team RWBY, the door opens and Weiss' shadow is seen against the hall's light. Blake is sleeping under the covers, Yang is spread out on her bed and snoring, and when Weiss lifts the blanket of Ruby's tent, she finds the occupant with her head resting on notes, a pencil in her hand, and open books all around her. Weiss, looking amazed at Ruby's determination, clears her throat and gently shakes the other girl awake, who takes a second to regain consciousness and start flailing in surprise.'

"Weiss! I-I was studying, and then I fell asleep! I'm sorry..."

Weiss places a hand over Ruby's mouth and puts a finger to her own so Ruby understands the need for lowering her voice. Weiss looks near Ruby's pillow and spots an empty Beacon coffee mug.

Weiss lowers her hand, "How do you take your coffee?"

"I... I don't..."

"Answer the question!"

"Uhh, cream and five sugars!"

Weiss sighs, "Don't move." She ducks under to her own bed and comes up a moment later with a fresh cup, offering it to Ruby, "Here."

"Um... Thanks, Weiss."

Weiss smiles, then looks apologetic, "Ruby, I think you have what it takes to be a good leader." Ruby smiles appreciatively, "Just know that I am going to be the best teammate you'll ever have!" They share a smile, "Good luck studying!" Weiss ducks under, only to come up and point at one of Ruby's papers, "That's wrong, by the way." She ducks under again, and her voice comes from the doorway this time, "Hey, Ruby?"

"Uh-huh?"

Weiss stands in the door with her hand on the knob, "I always wanted bunkbeds as a kid." She starts to close the door.

Ruby, grinning at the progress with her friend, goes back to her notes as her thoughts u-turned back to her amazing friend here at Beacon and blushes slightly,

' _Thank you...Caelum._ '

At CRPN's dorm, Caelum leans his back on the wall next to his bed, keeping watch over his teammates' sleeping forms, all splayed out humorously. He smiles and looks at the dark, blank canvas of the sky, the shattered moon giving light on the city below.

' _Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from their earnest counsel._ '


End file.
